They are already..

..out heavy and it looks to be a busy rattler year




How to deal with a bite:

1. No tourniquet
2. Do not cut the wound and suck out anything
3. Do not use a commercially available snakebite suction device
4. Do not elevate the bite

Do put a wrap closer to the body than the bite that is snug, but not tight. You're not cutting off circulation, you're slowing down lymphatic drainage. If the venom got into the vein, nothing you can do will help, but if it's in the tissue, you can make them lose their limb by cutting circulation off.
Keep the limb lower than the heart. You want to decrease drainage to the core, not increase it by elevating the limb.

Get a very detailed description of the snake or for that matter what ever bit you. like the size, color, head shape and patterns on the skin, also a time; but dont actually capture the snake and bring that to the hospital, they dont appreciate that..

Is that one you took a picture of? That suckers big!

and just out of curiosity, whats wrong with the commercial snake bite kits?

We got those things all over our property and in the creek area out back. I never worried too much about them since I pay attention to my surrounding, but our 15 month old doesn't quite pay attention to anything. Last year during snake season he wasn't walking so we didn't have to worry about him, but now he's all over the place and I will have to watch him VERY closely when he's outside.

bhicks said:

our 15 month old doesn't quite pay attention to anything. Last year during snake season he wasn't walking so we didn't have to worry about him, but now he's all over the place and I will have to watch him VERY closely when he's outside.

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Same thing with my little 2 year old. I like to take him climbing with me and sometimes my dad would come watch him for us while we climbed. My dad said he wouldn't come once the snakes were out because my son doesn't come when called if he's excited and my dad didn't want to have to worry too much about snakes. When I take him anywhere I have to be on him like a hawk.

Up here I haven't seen any this year, but my firends have seen 10 already on their mountain bike rides, and most of them were Mojave Greens.

ruggedjeep said:

Is that one you took a picture of? That suckers big!

and just out of curiosity, whats wrong with the commercial snake bite kits?

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No - no it is not. If I had seen that, I would have a new belt and that SoB might just be long enough to work..

As far as the kits, you can not suck enough venom out, either orally or with the suction to make a difference. The suction can also draw venom into the skin around the bite causing permanent damage to that area. The kits with the razor to cut around the bite are just likely to cause infection and also improves the chances of venom getting upstream quicker..



(Sorry - I just feel like I have to close with this)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pele5vptVgc

One other thing is that big sucker is not as bad as the little suckers so beware. The little ones have no venom control and dose the shiz out of you.

Found a 4.5 to 5' on the road saturday just down the street from my house. Mine ran sideways and i'm not that fast an didn't have my gun with me so he got to live. We had a litter last year, gave out 5 sidewinders that we seen on the corner on my lot. Didn't get all of them, still have 3 running around here.

Just get some pet King snakes, they eat rattlers.

you dont really want to kill rattlers. you just want them to stay away. they are going extinct and they actually do alot of good for the areas they are in. but i understand completely what you guys are talking about. my 4 year old is fearless and doesnt listen for shit. he just does what he wants. thats why i have dogs. they eat EVERYTHING that moves. my boxer had a 3 foot gopher snake 3 days ago.

jeeperjohn said:

Just get some pet King snakes, they eat rattlers.

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Got a couple of them here to john, paul has played with one of them.

Grew up in West Texas with tons of snakes. Actually the barn cats did a great job of controlling the snakes. You would see a half dozen in a circle and in the middle would be a snake. Dogs on the other hand tended to get bit.

bails85 said:

you dont really want to kill rattlers. you just want them to stay away. they are going extinct and they actually do alot of good for the areas they are in. but i understand completely what you guys are talking about. my 4 year old is fearless and doesnt listen for shit. he just does what he wants. thats why i have dogs. they eat EVERYTHING that moves. my boxer had a 3 foot gopher snake 3 days ago.

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o man, we went to Stoddard Wells two weeks ago and in 3 days we saw 7 rattlers on the trails. they are out in numbers this year

Just buy a 1st gen Cummins and it will solve all the problems of the world